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Topic : 12/19 Parents’ Ultimate Test: Dealing with Autism

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Created on : Thursday, December 13, 2007, 05:12:39 pm

Author : DrPhilBoard1

The ultimate test for any parent is loving a child who is difficult, sometimes frightening, to the whole family. It’s a test parents of autistic children are put to daily. Ten-year-old Luz throws screaming tantrums, barks like a dog, and tells his mother, Sara, that he plans to kill her. Sara has long felt despair at Luz’s out-of-control behavior, yet she was shocked when a doctor diagnosed him with autism. Go inside the daily life of this family, see Luz’s wild behavior caught on tape, and learn why Sara’s main coping mechanisms might be putting her at risk. Then, a member of Dr. Phil’s own staff achieved miraculous results for her autistic child and her whole family through an intense program. Could a similar treatment work for Luz? Plus, what causes autism? Several recent media reports and high-profile parents such as Jenny McCarthy have pointed the finger at vaccinations. Is there a link? Child care expert and pediatrician Dr. Jim Sears weighs in. Then, imagine having a crime committed against you, but not having a voice or any way to tell someone you’d been wronged. Some mothers in Las Vegas say that’s exactly what happened when a teacher allegedly abused their autistic children, and they’ve filed a lawsuit. Hear them recount the painful details of the alleged abuse. What are their chances of winning in court? Share your thoughts here.

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12/19 Parents’ Ultimate Test: Dealing with Autism

Autism is highly misinderstood

After reading this shows intro about the child's violent behavior, it worries me that many people will view others with autism as potentially violent and even fear them. Violence is unusual for a person with autism. It is not the norm but gets the most attention of course.Since my son was diagnosed in March of 2000, I've been studying this disorder and hope that the show conveys to viewers that autism does NOT look the same on every person and each person with autism has a range of mild to severe behaviors that can arise. Many behaviors come and go as the child explores his world around him, tries to assimilate into the environments we've created and tries to desensitize himself to what can be overwhelming environmental triggers due to heightened senses.We need to have compassion because the population of people with autism has exploded since the 1990's and many many families have made significant progress with children who may have seemed unteachable to many.

This enormous and growing population of people WITH autism (NOT autistics - impolite term to many) will be all of our co-workers, neighbors, spouses, class mates and ultimately our greatest teachers in the next two decades and then beyond. Your future grandchildren and even future son-in-law may have autism.Please honor and respect them and if you know of a relative, friend, school mate, or neighbor with autism, please do not be afraid of getting to know them better. They will develop more acceptable ways of expressing themselves by watching your example and thrive with attention. Just try to ignore the autistic behaviors and treat them like everyone else. It may take practice.The child featured on the show can be helped a great deal if the parent has help, resources and does research. What has helped my son the most is nutrition and biomedical help such as determining trigger foods, allergens and ridding the body of toxic build ups of yeast, metals, preservatives. Also, five years completed of speech and occupational therapies. And most importantly, treating and interacting with him as we'd treat him if he was any other typical child. He is now age 10 and doing better than ever expected.

If you love somebody whose life has been touched by autism, THEY may not have enough time and energy to go on-line and research from thousands of websites to learn about all of the wonderful and varied approaches to helping their child or loved one with autism to thrive. YOU can help by learning all you can, reading, printing info and sharing with them. I hope this helps inform someone and I sincerely will answer any questions posed as I care very much about these kids and this topic. I will be back on-line after the holidays though.Thank you for reading.

Sister of autistic brother

I have a 40 year old brother who is autistic. The dissappointments and embarrassments are something I lived daily growing up. It is very emotionally draining to have any special needs child, but I think autistic children are even more of a drain because a lot of times their disability is not as outward evident, especially if, like my brother, they are high functioning. He has some amazing skills, such as at age 3 he could spell any word in the dictionary; and if you give him any date in the last 500 years he can tell you what day of the week it fell on. While parents of autistic children need extra support there is a forgotten group; the siblings. I know my parents did the best they could with the situation they had, but my word of advice to parents who have autistic or any special needs children is please don't forget your other children. They may not need the level of attention as your special needs child, but that does not mean they don't need you. Even if it is just 5 minutes a day, make sure you put aside that time for the non special needs childern, time that is just for them. It will help with resentment issues, and bring you closer as a family, which is good for everyone involved. God bless the parents and siblings of all special needs childrens.

NO LINK TO VACCINATIONS

Autism is caused by a series of DNA strands. It is not contagious, it is not caused by MERCURY in VACCINATIONS.

It's in the DNA people.

I am autistic, my brother may well be autistic, my niece is autistic, my two daughters are autistic.

Autism runs in my family.

But that's not what people want to hear.

Instead we have crack pots touting that if we remove all of the mercury out of the system, there's no more autism. These crack pots say it's a cure.

It's not a CURE people, it's a deatth sentence. This 'treatment' as well as it's 'results' were shown on both TV, and in several news magazines as what it is ....... a death sentence to children. So, don't do this to your child. It didn't work for the little children who died, and it will not work for your child either.

The only thing that works is early intervention (depending on the severity of the autism).

And yes sometimes drugs such as straterra, and prozac can help.

Sometimes even going to a wheat free diet will help. Although it did not help in my case or that of my children; I've seen it work for other children who's autism was actually more severe than that of my childrens'.

But remember people, there is no proof whatsoever that Autism is caused by the vaccinations that prevent so many diseases. That is simply incorrect.

12/19 Parents’ Ultimate Test: Dealing with Autism

I work with children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder. I'm really hoping that Dr.Phil isnt going to make it look like all kids who have Autism are violent. Each child is totally different. Some may have harder challenges and some may act like any other kid in school. I have worked with kids who are violent, as well as kids who have no violent tendencies at all.

The number of cases of children who have Autism is rising. We need more supports and more education to help these kids become the best they can. I work in Canada for a gov't based organization. We spend our whole year looking for donations to give these kids a better way of life.(summer camps, horse back riding, and all the therapies these kids need). Its sad when you know theres a child who desperatley needs the help and the therapy, but cannot afford or cannot get the funding.

Next time you see a child and hes spinning or screaming loud and it seems like hes too old for that behaviour...say a little prayer for these kids...They need all the love and support we can give them.

Daughter with Autism

My 9-year old daughter has autism. She is sometimes aggressive because of her frustration levels at our inability to understand what she is trying to communicate. Sometimes she doesn't want to stop doing something others want her to stop doing and she thinks her wishes are being ignored when we don't listen to her wishes. Sometimes she hits her little sister (pretty typical in older siblings) when she thinks she's not getting enough attention. This wouldn't be so much of a problem, except that her little sister is extremely developmentally delayed, is in a wheelchair, and is medically fragile. Most of the time, she is a funny, smart, and even affectionate girl -- with some very quirky behaviors.

Autism is a big enough problem without adding violence to the mix. Too many children in this world are violent without autism. Autism could make a tendancy for violence worse, however, because of the lack of inner restraint and inability to empathize many people with autism seem to have. If Luc is threatening his mother with violence, the autism may not be helping, but it is NOT the main problem. Vaccinations may trigger autism in some kids, but they are NOT the cause. Like other parents with children with disabilities, I'd like to know why, but with my children, and many other childen, there is no "why" there are only the facts of their disabilities.

Many people have told me that they don't know how I do it, having two children with completely different disabilities. I do it like every other parent does it: with love, intention, a willingness to fight for my children's future, and a combination of diplomacy and insistence when dealing with their school district and doctors.

The life that my husband and I have is not the one we planned. The lives our children will have are not the ones we dreamed for them before they were born. But, to paraphrase Joseph Campbell, sometimes you have to give up the life you have planned and the dreams that you have in order to find the life and dreams that God has waiting for you.

AUTISM

THIS SHOW SHOULD BE INTERESTING.HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET SOME HELP.

MY DAUGHTER LIVES WITH HER GRANDMOTHER.MY DAUGHTER LOUISA HAS AUTISM.SHE IS 11 YEARS OLD.SHE IS STARTING TO GET PHYSICAL WITH HER GRANDMA & SOMETIMES ME. WE ARE TRYING A NEW BEHAVOIR PROGRAM.HOPEFULLY THAT WILL WORK.

Autism in Adults

Having an adult daughter with Asperger's is difficult. Many psych docs do not believe Asperger's exists. They also don't believe it can be found in adults. Well, it can. I also have Asperger's and I am 56 years old. No wonder I was the "odd one"! Now, my daughter struggles with a world that does not accept autism. After all, autistic people sit on the floor and rock or bang their heads against the wall. I think autism is genetic. What I find difficult is all of a sudden 1 out of 150 children are autistic. If 1 out of 150 children are being found to be autistic today, what about all the children who are autistic and never diagnosed? And, how will our nation accept these children when they become adults. My daughter is loving, giving, a nurturer. Can she get a job? No. I do not want her to lie and say she doesn't have Asperger's but when she tells them, she is turned down for the job. Her greatest challenge area is communication. It always has been. When she worked at our local cinema, she was fired because she misinterpreted what her supervisor wanted her to do. That was in January 2006. She still hasn't found work. She has been declared disabled and receives assistance but we supplement her income. She lives at home. I worry about the future. We have no family to assist her and she doesn't qualify for adult services. So what happens to her when my husband and I are gone? A researcher made the comment recently that "we know that you don't adjust your underwear in public. People with autism don't think that way." How true! It's that little bit that's missing - that little bit that ruins their lives. Meltdowns? She still has them. Meds? Yes, she takes them. What she takes helps take the "edge off". So . . . what do we do with our children when they become adults? Can they marry? Can they have children? Can they hold jobs? I don't have any answers and I need to know. I want my daughter to be self-sufficient. She isn't quite there yet. She may never be. She will always need a little help as a reminder or a push. Who's going to give it when I'm gone??

MY 5 YEAR OLD HAS AUTISM

I CANT WAIT TO WATCH THIS SHOW I HAVE A 5 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER THAT HAS AND STILL PUTS ME THRU SO MUCH AND I JUST FOUND OUT EARLIER THIS YEAR THAT SHE HAS AUTISM. IM SO WANTING TO KNOW MORE BUT KNOWING WHATS WRONG WITH HER HELPS ME UNDERSTAND WHY SHE SEEMS TO BE SO BAD. SHE CANT HELP IT I LOVE HER WITH ALL MY HEART I PRAY EVERYDAY THAT GOD WOULD HELP HER AND WATCH OVER HER SHES VERY SPECIAL AND SO VERY SMART AS WELL. SHES SO CUTE SOMETIMES YET SLOW AT MOST EVERYTHING. SHE AND MY 2 YEAR OLD ARE ON THE SAME LEVEL AND NEED EACH OTHER EVEN THOUGHT MY 5 YEAR OLD BEATS UP MY 2 YEAR OLD SOMETIMES SHE REALLY HURTS HER. ITS VERY HARD AND IM A SINGLE MOM WITH 6 KIDS SO I END UP NEGLECKING MY OTHER CHILDREN BECAUSE SHE HAS TO HAVE MORE OF MY ATTENTION PLUS FITS IF I DONT DO FOR HER ONLY. MY DAUGHTER THROWS AT LEAST 30 IF NOT MORE FITS A DAY. BREAKFAST, GETTING READY FOR SCHOOL, HER SHOES, HER SOCKS, AT DINNER TIME, THE WRONG CHAIR, THE WRONG FORK OR SPOON, THE WRONG PLATE OR CUP, WHO GIVES HER A BATH, CANT TOUCH HER HEAD OR HAIR, AND SHE HATES THE CARSEAT IN THE VAN. THERE IS ALOT OF THINGS JUST SO MUCH TO GO THRU AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AUTISM WILL HELP ME WITH HER SO I HOPE. I WILL BE WATCHING THIS SHOW THIS WEEK FOR SURE I LOVE DR. PHIL THANKS HEIDI